The Wind in the Willows

By Kenneth Grahame

With the arrival of spring and fine weather outside, the good-natured Mole loses patience with spring cleaning. He flees his underground home, and encounters Rat who teaches Mole how to use a row boat. The two friends team up with Badger and Toad, and go on many adventures together. The friends soon learn that Toad lives a reckless life, having crashed seven cars, been hospitalised three times, and spent a fortune on fines. Mole, Rat, and Badger follow Toad on his adventures, and try to help him realize what good friends he has, while doing their best to turn his life around.

Alternately slow moving and fast paced, The Wind in the Willows focuses on four anthropomorphised animals in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames valley. In 2002, Mr. Toad was voted Number 38 among the 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 by Book magazine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Engage Books
• Release date: Jul 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781774374450

Kenneth Grahame

Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) was a Scottish author of children’s literature. Following the death of his mother at a young age, Grahame was sent to live with his grandmother in Berkshire, England, in a home near the River Thames. Unable to study at Oxford due to financial reasons, Grahame embarked on a career with the Bank of England, eventually retiring to devote himself to writing. An early exposure to nature and wildlife formed a lasting impression on Grahame, who would return to the Thames Valley of his youth throughout his literary career—most notably in his novel The Wind in the Willows (1908), which is considered his finest achievement and a masterpiece of children’s fiction.

Book preview